Milkshakes and Roller-skates
by skysailz
Summary: Fresh off the boat, Ren starts his new life with his mother in America, not without its own share of hardships however. But a certain little redhead will help him along the way. (1950s!AU)
1. Fresh off the Boat

A small, dainty hand gently tapped the back of a young man's back, urging him forward onto the walkway. The sound of waves, machinery and gulls were the most common sounds in the area, with an occasional loud whistle to signify another ship coming in to dock. While typically, for many, such a sight might be an almost everyday occurrence, or at least nothing exciting. But not for him, the young man whose mother had brought him out of his daze as he looked over the dock from the massive cargo ship they were walking away from. His mother looked at him with a smile and spoke.

" _Lái_ ," she spoke in their mother tongue and the boy nodded in response and they were on their way.

Taking in a deep breath, one could smell the smoke that came from both the workers' cigarettes and the heavy machinery, the faint saltwater scent barely breaking through the clouds of smoke. But somehow it was better than the musty air of being stuck in a metal container for weeks. It was a different smell than he was used to back home, having lived far from the ocean. He picked up his bag, along with his mother's, before they quietly left the dock where men were loading and unloading cargo from ships of all sizes that had docked, from barrels being rolled on planks and collected into groups on the dock, to crates of various goods and cargo. The two weren't on their own, however. A few other small groups of people who had been on the same ship as them had also disembarked and were making their way to leave the docks with luggage in hand. He had spoken to a few of them on their journey, a couple of them his age. They had been told they could find a place to stay in Downtown LA. They had no map and most of the group of other refugees had either separated or didn't know English well enough to ask for help and directions. The boy was having trouble taking it all in, the sights all so new to him.

It took them nearly seven hours to finally find what they had been directed to, passing by different parts of town and occasionally gathering looks from passersby, their destination turned out to be a small apartment complex in a run down alleyway located in Chinatown, but this was barely anything like their old home. The buildings looked like they all came from the opulent parts of China, unfamiliar to where they had come from in poverty where they had shared homes with tens of families and lived in places comparable to shacks. To them, this was like a castle compared to what they had before. They entered the building and had to walk up a couple flights of stairs before they reached a plain wooden door with the number '4' screwed on, and an outline of a '3' to the left of it. There must have been another number here at some point and it was either stolen or had fallen off.

The woman's hand slipped into her pocket in search of a small key, which she soon fished out and slipped easily into the lock on their door and turned it clockwise… A click resounded from the other side and the door was soon opened. Beyond this door were new possibilities and hope; for the 'American dream' they had heard so much about and for a new start in their lives.

" _Kàn yī kà-_ " His mother started, before cutting herself off. They were in America now, she thought, so wouldn't it best she start to use the common language of English, even though hers was rather broken and stilted, not much better than a young child's skill level.

"Look around, put bags in room Lie Ren" She said in a soft tone, looking at her son Ren, with a caring smile and placing a soft, loving kiss on top of his head. Her sentence structure was off by a bit and was missing a couple words, but she had the basics down. They were both in a place neither was familiar with. All he had seen was random pamphlets and posters that were scattered about on the ship they had travelled on. Ren's mother went into the small kitchen and dining area to sit at their small dining table. She had some papers to sort through that she said Ren didn't need to worry about, so as per her instruction he explored their new home, room by room.

They had one bedroom, a small bathroom with all the basics; a steel basin, a toilet, and a bath with a showerhead protruding from the wall above it. It had a shower curtain with some kind of floral pattern. They also had a kitchen and a small living room area. Each room was no more than roughly 4 metres square, except the living room area which was still only a little bigger than that. But even with something so small, they were happy with it. It was theirs and they didn't have to share it with anyone else they didn't want to.

Ren had brought both his and his mother's luggage into the bedroom which they would no doubt share, he thought. It was taking him a little time to adjust to their new home, but it was only the first day so it was to be expected. They were lucky the house was already pre-furnished when they moved in, there was almost no way they would be able to afford their own beds and chairs and tables. They had all the bare essentials plus a little bit more. He noticed how there was only one bed; a double-sized mattress on top of a metal frame. When he sat down on it, it made a rough creaking as his weight shifted the metal frame underneath.

He leaned down and brought his bag up beside him on the bed, removing the tag with his name from it. He left his mother's alone, which also had a tag tied to it that said "An Ren". He opened it and first pulled out a photo that was at the very top of his things. It was a black and white photo of his father during the war, alongside all of his comrades and brothers in arms. He placed the photo down on the small bedside table the pulled out the small amount of clothes he had packed. Most of it was dirty, including what he was currently wearing, due to having been on a ship for the past few weeks with no means of cleaning either himself or his clothes. They didn't have a laundry, so they would have to use a public laundromat. He took out the last set of clothes he had that he hadn't worn yet, placing all the dirty clothes back in his bag then went into their bathroom to wash up.

* * *

It's been a while, huh? My first public RWBY fanfic. Please dont look for my old Kingdom Hearts fanfics, they're terrible and I'm not continuing them .

So I came up with this AU on a RWBY Discord server and it started with cute images of Nora posing from one of the recent episodes where I made the comment that Nora's outfit looks like it fits right in during the 1950s, then it just kinda grew really fast from there and have had some help from some of the people on there with ideas.

When An says "Lái" that means "come", or at least that's what Google translate tells me, I dont know Chinese or anyone that does so I cant really confirm. Sorry.

More characters will show up eventually, I just wanted to start with their arrival and a bit of settling in and I'll get to work on the next chapter as soon as I can. I've done a bit of research to try and keep it as accurate as I can to the time, but don't expect to be able to write a history paper based on this :p

There's something ironic about an Australian writing about a Chinese person moving to, and living in, America. Don't you think?


	2. Life goes on

After Ren had washed and dried off he changed into the cleanest set of clothes he had, which was a slightly ragged and loose pair of cargo pants which he kept up with a belt, an old jacket over a dark-green shirt and white sneakers with a blue stripe along the side. He had packed all of his clothes away into his bag, making sure to remove any of the contents that weren't clothes, not that there were many in the first place. He flicked the bag over his shoulder and told his mother where he was going before he left. She offered to go with him, but he declined noticing how heavy in paperwork she was and he didn't want her to be up any later than she needed to be with it, especially considering almost all of it was in english and she seemed to be struggling with it enough as it was with an open translation dictionary beside her on the table. He gave her a hug before heading out the door with his bag over his shoulder and made sure he had some money in his pocket.

They were lucky to have what money they did. They had traded some of their things for American money on the boat. Which is another reason why Ren only has so much clothing now, having sold some of his clean clothes to get even just a bit of money, just enough to live off for a few days while his mother searched for work. He said he would also look for work but she refused to let him, not wanting to burden him with finding work while he was still adapting to a whole new environment, along with school which she planned to enrol him into that week. He considered washing it all himself in their bathtub, but they didn't have any soap to use and he didn't know how much it would cost, as well as not wanting to use much water because he didn't know how much the bills would end up being. He hoped that his current task wouldn't be too expensive...

The stairs creaked a bit as he stepped down them, and his footfalls were quite loud when he quickly tread down the steps, sounding like stomps to the tenants who happened to live a floor below them. This resulted in what sounded like an angry shout in muffled Chinese coming from the floor below, and the same person waiting outside their door when Ren had reached that floor. He avoided contact with them and tried to tell them it was someone else that had made the noise. He hoped to avoid any conflict and made a mental note to avoid making much noise in future, as well as to try and avoid that neighbour in particular as they seemed like they could be particularly hard to deal with if they were crossed.. He didn't want to leave a negative impression on the same day they had just moved in.

He came up to the entrance to the building and reached for the door when it suddenly swung open and two white men in suits entered the building, one wearing a chestnut brown suit and the other in a dark grey and easily identifiable by the trilby on their head, something their partner wasn't sporting.

"Outta the way, _Chink_." One of them spat, pushing past him. Not prepared for it, he lost his footing and fell back onto the floor. He winced and grunted as he fell back, catching himself on the floor with his arm behind him and dropping his bag.

" _Fuckin' Panfaces_ …" Said the other man, kicking the already downed Ren. Their voice was a little higher pitched than the other, but still quite masculine. His words came out more like a mutter to himself as they walked past the fallen boy. His companion was a few steps ahead as they came up to one of the doors of the apartment complex and roughly rapped the door with the side of their fist.

"Open up! _Ching ching chong!_ " The first man shouted through the door, almost sadistically. Ren thought it would be best to get out of here before something happened, or worse; he was dragged into it somehow. He picked himself up, along with his bag and hunched a bit as he left, the door closing behind him.

When he got outside it was around late afternoon, the sky still mostly blue with nary a cloud in sight. He looked around and started following a path. He asked someone if there was a nearly place he could wash his clothes and was directed to a laundromat roughly a mile from Chinatown along Sunset Blvd.

Once he found the correct road, he followed it. The environment around him was so different, there were so many cars and roads that he found his attention shooting to the road beside the sidewalk every time one passed by him. He couldn't help but almost jump every time an engine sound came from behind. Some small groups of young people rolled past him at a quick pace, their feet wearing boots with some kind of metal frame with wheels on their feet. He was amazed, having never seen such an invention. He was so distracted that he almost didn't notice someone heading straight for him.

"Hey, wait up!" He was blinded by a flash of orange and pink before almost falling over. Luckily, he caught himself this time. He quickly turned around to see who or what that was, but any trace of them was already out of sight by the time he had recollected his thoughts. He shrugged and sighed, hoping he wouldn't have to risk falling flat again tonight.

He took in the sights of the city. If he didn't already have a task to do he would probably have gotten lost in it. Soon his thoughts got lost in memories of people he knew back in his hometown; friends he may not ever see again. He knew where he was now was for the best, but he couldn't help to reminisce on the past, including the things he had to go through as well to get to this point. People starved near to death and overcrowded homes that had to be shared by large families to to point that you might end up sleeping squeezed between four other people. 'Poor treatment and living' was to put it rather lightly for a Chinese peasant.

Making it to the 24-hour laundromat, he opened the door which had a small bell above it to signify someone had opened the door. It was a large, well lit room, with seats that functioned as a waiting area amongst all the rumbling loads of washing. The walls were lined with posters advertising brands for detergent, prices for different loads, groceries and various other things one could buy. It was mostly housewives waiting for their and their husband's and children's clothing to wash and dry, but there was also a fair share, though smaller, of men also waiting and loading machines. Some people sitting with one leg draped over the other and a hand on their knee and chin, some simply waited in front of the machine impatiently, maybe tapping their foot or the machine itself with their fingers while others read to quietly pass the time. Ren thought he saw one person fiddling with a switchblade knife in the corner of the room, leaning back in their chair against one of the rumbling machines, but he chose not to make direct eye contact and looked away almost as quickly as he looked over.

He tried to keep to himself, a group of young girls around his age stood near an older woman and Ren could swear he was being watched. Distracted, he dropped his things on the floor after tripping over his own footing. Giggling came from the same direction as the girls, which only worsened his confidence.

"Hey, don't be makin' my floor all dirty, you damn chink." called out a man leaning over the front counter, presumably the owner but he couldn't be certain. That was the second time he had heard that word directed at him today...

He politely nodded a quiet apology toward them and quickly retrieved his bag from the floor before quickly opening the door of one of the machines and placing what he could fit into the washer. He had just enough clothes for one full load. Looking up it would cost him twenty-five cents. He searched his pocket for his money, which jingled a little bit when he did- he had about $2 in coins, give or take a few cents. He had found out the values of each different coin on the boat from one of the workers and made sure to remember it. The machine had small metal plate with a little '25c' engraved into it and a small hole underneath where you would fit your money. He slipped a quarter, almost reluctantly, into the slot and the machine came to life. Now he had to find something to do for the next twenty-to-thirty minutes…

He took a seat, having nothing to entertain himself he practiced reading english to himself from the signs and posters around the room. His english was passable, mostly with speaking rather than reading. It was better than his mother's, but still not totally fluent. He had learned from his father who taught him before he died.

After spending five minutes doing that, he got bored and gave up on it. It was starting to get dark outside, the sun starting to set over the city and lighting the sky with a pink and orange hue, and he was starting to wish he had at least found a book or magazine or _something_ to bring to read so he could pass the time. He almost fell asleep at a couple points, his eyes slowly drifting closed. He would jolt back awake every time he did before fully drifting off. He had moved the wet, but clean, to a dryer at some point in between and then went back to waiting.

During the time he was waiting, a girl entered the building with a washing basket that caught his eye. She had long, wavy blonde hair that was tied back and a white bow in her hair. She had what looked like some kind of white and pink uniform in her basket. She had caught Ren's full attention, so he didn't realise his washing was finally done drying until someone near him had opened, removed their load and then closed theirs with a loud bang. His attention quickly jolted back to his original task and he pulled it out and folded it neatly before placing it all back in his bag and leaving the building and heading home.

Most, if not all, of the shops he passed by had closed by now, men in suits getting in their cars with their suitcases. Ren just followed the same path he came from earlier and arrived at home a little quicker than it took him to get there.

He made sure to be quiet when walking up the stairs this time and slowly opened the door to his apartment. The first thing he saw was his mother asleep, leaning over the kitchen table with her arms as her pillow. He placed his bag down and walked over to her and saw the assorted papers scattered on the table. He sighed with a soft smile and sorted them into a neat pile.

He then tapped her on the shoulder lightly, " _māmā_ ," he said softly as he leaned down. Her eyes would shoot open and she slowly looked up before smiling at seeing her son beside her.

"You fell asleep…" Ren pointed out.

She looked down at what she had been sleeping on and rubbed her tired eyes

"You take bed… I will use couch…" She waved her hand at him, making some sort of attempt to point him toward the bedroom.

Ren frowned, not wanting his mother to sacrifice even more for him.

"No, you can sleep in the bed." He said, "You're already doing so much…" But she shook her head.

In the end, they both shared the bed.

That night he dreamt. His world a vast tone of dull greys, like it always was. But there was colour over the horizon.

He just had to find it.

* * *

I enjoyed writing this chapter. I know not much really happened here... But some events in this chapter have set a chain reaction for events and people we dont even know yet! We are still in the early stages, with more to come!

I have a penchant for detail when I start writing and getting into it. It's even longer than the first chapter, by nearly double! But fear not! We are ever closer to seeing our favourite, lovable redhead.

And we got introduced to a couple side characters that we may or may not see a little later on. As always, thanks for reading and if you feel so inclined, please leave your comments and critiques below~


	3. A Day of Firsts

That morning's sleep, like every other morning that had preceded it, was ruined by the single window in the tiny apartment bedroom- causing direct sunlight to assault Ren's face and pour through his eyelids. The window in question only had a small view of a plain brick wall that belonged to the adjacent building, but when the sun was in just the right position it would hit the bed and directly glare into the eyes of any poor soul trying to sleep.

They didn't have curtains, which had been made abundantly clear every morning over the last few days. He tried to turn away from it by putting his back to the wall, but his mother would always shield herself from it by burying her face into his back, so she got to continue sleeping peacefully while he had to cope with the sun trying to blind him every day.

It had been a few days since they first disembarked that giant cargo ship and started their new lives in America. Luckily, they had sorted a few of their initial concerns. Their new landlord, who owned the entire building they resided in, was kind enough to allow them a week before having to pay their first rent. They had basically given up most of the little money they had in the process as a 'deposit', the landlord called it. He wasn't a bad person, just intimidating. As it had turned out, the landlord had been the one who had shouted at Ren for going down the stairs too loudly on their first day. It seemed unlikely, at this point, he would be able to completely stay out of his way like he originally wanted to.

An was almost forced into her current job due to having so few options, as not many people wanted to hire immigrants; especially ones with broken english. Many other potential employers simply outright refused her because she was Asian. Her boss wasn't exactly a pleasing man to be around, especially if you weren't a white American, but it provided enough for them to be able to pay their bills and have at least some food on the table every night. They weren't living in luxury by any means, but at least they could earn for themselves.

It was his mother's one day off during the week, and she had been working hard- always completely spent when she came home. So Ren wanted to let her sleep in a little bit and not bother her. But he'd had enough and shot up from the bed, flinging the blanket from his body. He took one of his shirts and hung it over the window, having it act as a temporary curtain—at least until they could afford a proper one. It had a couple rips and tears in it—most of which were stitched up with different, oddly coloured strings—so some light shined through, but it would do for the time being.

Earlier in the week, a couple days after settling into the apartment, they had gone to one of the nearby inner-city schools to enrol Ren. They had a bit of trouble considering they didn't have any of the official papers they needed, but they were able to arrange something. He was due to start at the beginning of the week following that meeting. He was extremely anxious and nervous about it, as expected. It was a whole new country; he didn't understand how their education system worked and he never had a traditional education in the first place.

He looked over at his peacefully sleeping mother and smiled softly. He pulled up the blanket he had thrown off before and covered her up to her shoulders, letting her rest a little longer. He was used to rising up early in the morning back in China, but on the trip they had learned to switch their sleeping schedule to match the californian time-zone to counter any travel fatigue they could have experienced. He was a little off with calculating it, so he tended to wake up in the late morning now and go to sleep later. It was something he planned to fix eventually.

He sat back down on the side of the bed and his eyes slowly darted across the room. He never really sat down and took in the sights of their apartment other than to see what they had. After even a few seconds of staring, he noticed how the walls were painted a dull, faded turquoise and the carpet a similar, if slightly darker tone of green.

The window that had caused this morning's troubles was located just above the head of the bed, roughly a couple feet above where their heads would be sleeping. Their sheets and blankets were a baby blue that did nothing to complement the interior paint job and the side table next to the bed was made out of old, decrepit wood—or it was just old and decrepit itself. Like putting too much weight on it would cause it to collapse on the thin sticks it called legs. Atop the table was a small lamp, antique even for its own time, with a plain, juniper coloured lampshade that rounded the light in the centre. Located by the far side wall was a set of wooden drawers where they had packed what little clothes they had away. It had nothing atop it and located just above it was a small mirror used when applying makeup, which neither tenant knew anything about.

From the bedroom, they could see directly into the kitchen and dining area just across the small hallway that separated the areas of the house. Their kitchen featured dark, vinyl plastic flooring and woodgrain walls made of cheap materials. A small dining table that matched the flooring and two matching chairs sat in the centre of the room. They had some shelving and cupboards with the same woodgrain look as the walls for storing cutlery and kitchenware. The kitchen sink was small and made from steel, with countertops topped with a similar plastic vinyl as the flooring. They were extremely lucky to have a fridge, which had a mint green paintjob, located beside the stove which was the same colour.

His eyes drifted back to the bedside table to the unframed photo he had left on it. He reached over and picked up the photo of his father, holding in both hands over his lap and looking down at it. He liked this photo, it calmed him. Despite the subject matter being during war, the people in it seemed to be having a good time between all the fighting. He would always look at it as a reminder of his father and who he was. He turned the piece of paper over, it had "1953年6月 Kumsong" neatly scrawled on the back in black ink. This was the last thing he had of his father, it was a little torn and burnt on the sides of the paper as well as a small drop of blood in the bottom right corner.

A gentle groan sounded beside him, he hadn't realised how long he had been staring at the photo. He quietly placed it back down where he left it and looked back at his mother who was just waking up.

" _Zǎoshang_ ," he smiled, looking over at her.

"English, Lie." She reminded him with a tired smile, eyes only barely open as she directed her look to him. He was simply just used to speaking in Chinese around her.

" _Bàoq-_ Sorry. Good morning, Mother." He said with a corrective nod, "Did you sleep well?"

She replied with a satisfied nod before sitting up and looking at him, opening her eyes a little more as the blanket fell into her lap.

"You no start school today?" She asked, head tilted slightly. His eyes went wide.

"That was today?!" He said, slightly panicked. She noticed he didn't realise that until now and placed her hand on him, hoping to calm him slightly. It was almost midday, so he was very late by now, not to mention how long it would take him to get there. She did her best to calm him down and help him quickly get ready. She set out his outfit, brushed his hair and tied it back while he buttoned up his coat and packed his bag. There was no time to make him anything to eat before he ran out the door.

He knew where the school was from the time they first visited. It was quite some distance by foot from where he lived. He would need to be quick, or think of something fast. With his bag over his shoulder, the same he had used to carry his dirty laundry now filled will some books and stationery, he quickly left the apartment building. He had no time for being quiet; dashing down the stairs and past the owner who cursed him off as he bolted out the door. Once outside, he sprinted like there was no tomorrow. But at this rate it was unlikely he was going to make it there before classes neared their end for the day.

As if some deity had felt some remorse for poor boy, he saw a bright red streetcar come into his view. He knew he couldn't afford to get a ticket, but he was running out of options. So as it slowed down to stop and pick up some passengers, he quietly caught up to it and sat on the rear bumper, riding on that for the trip. This cut down the travel time exponentially, but he had to be careful not to fall off, holding onto whatever he could grab for stability and security. His mother would not approve of this if she saw it.

He kept a lookout of his surroundings to make sure he didn't go too far and gripped on extra hard whenever it made a turn. As the streetcar neared the school, Ren prepared for an opportunity to hop off, clambering off when it slowed around a corner and catching his footing as he landed on the road and quickly running over to the the sidewalk and off the road. Once off, he sprinted for the school entrance that was only a couple minutes from his current position.

There were other young people roughly his age scattered about the school grounds as he ran past. He rushed to find the head office to find out his class schedule. He slowed his pace to a quick walk as he reached the doors to the main office, trying not to pant too hard as he walked in and up to the front desk. A blonde woman who wore a white button up blouse tucked into her skirt with close fitting cuffs pushed up to her elbows was sitting behind it, thin fingers rapidly typing on a typewriter. She paused for a moment to look up when she noticed Ren enter, his face beet red. She scanned him, a judgemental demeanor over her as she studied the boy as if he were some kind of foreign object.

"Can I help you?" She asked, her glasses tilted downward while her eyes glanced upward at him. The sound of a clock ticked on the wall, which only made him more anxious.

"I-I am here for my first day… Sorry I am late." He spoke with exasperated breaths.

She exhaled and looked back down at her typewriter, fingers going back to their quickly paced typing. She didn't seem to care that he was late at all.

"Name?" she sighed, a hand hovering over a folder to her left without even looking away from her paper.

"R-Ren. L-Lie Ren." He stuttered, his hand tightly around his bag strap as his anxiety rose up to his chest.

Her finger slowly slid down the folder, which was ordered with tabs denoting alphabetical order. Ren glanced at the clock in the room. Her finger stopped on 'R' and she opened it, pulled out a small slip of paper and slid it toward him over the desk. He looked down and realised it was his class schedule. She was writing something down on a small piece of note paper and slid that across too. She then pulled out a few other documents and slipped them toward him.

"Take these home, sign them, then bring them back tomorrow and give that note to your teacher." She stated, looking back over at him, her demeanor changing to something a bit softer but there was still a tense air around her. Ren nodded, slipping the neatly arranged pages into his bag and the note into his pocket. He politely bowed to her before taking his schedule and heading back to the door.

"Perhaps it would be best you wait until the next class starts, so you don't interrupt the class during a lecture." She told him. He turned back around and nodded, before he realised he didn't know when that was.

"When does... The next class start?"

She didn't think that someone couldnt know that, thinking he was fooling around, and so replied as if it was obvious.

"When the bell sounds, Mr. Ren." She said bluntly

Ren nodded, meekly cringing as she stated it as if it were obvious and the blunt use of his name.

"Th-Thank you, Mis-."

"Goodwitch." She said, interjecting before he finished his sentence, "You may call me Miss Goodwitch."

Ren nodded, "Thank you, Miss Goodwitch," then finally left the office quietly. Miss Goodwitch went back to doing her own work.

Ren looked down at the slip of paper and checked what class he had next, matching it with the time he saw on the clock in the office. It seemed he only had to wait another few minutes until his next class: English. Not entirely looking forward to that being his first class, he took a seat at one of the empty tables in the school yard, located near a basketball court. He studied his schedule and constantly recited it over and over in his head; attempting to memorise it.

Soon the bell rang, the roar of hundreds of chairs being pushed back following it seconds later. Ren stood, taking a breath to steady himself before joining the crowd of students spilling into the halls.

* * *

Jeez, this chapter took a lot longer to write compared to the other two. I want to give a massive thank you to Kyo ( _feelingofnothing_ on tumblr) for helping me write this chapter, and to improve my writing because without them it would not be in the state it is right now.

There are no doubt problems with it, especially in the first two chapters, but I hope you can still enjoy reading my work! This is the longest chapter yet, at just under 2400 words and I am extremely surprised at myself for writing this much.

From now on, there will be a bit of a slow down on updates however, because I am nearing the end of my TAFE course and its pretty much crunch time to get all my work finished in the next few weeks. Don't worry, I have no intention of making you wait months between updates, but I can't give a certain time period to expect the next chapter, I'll be working on it when I can.

Next chapter we can expect to see a few new faces, and maybe one or two we already have?~

As always, thank you for reading, and if you feel so inclined, do leave you comments or critiques below~


	4. Introductions

Ren bumped shoulders with more than a few people as he tried to make his way through the crowd of students trying to get to their classes. No one seemed to pay him any mind, completely ignoring his presence and pushing him aside so they could all get through. He kept a tight grip on his bag as he tried to get through with as little physical contact as possible. His head lowered, looking more at the floor and the other people's feet rather than straight ahead. With no idea which classroom he was supposed to go to, he pressed forward.

Slowly, the halls cleared and he could finally see where he was going. But that created the thought that he was going to be late, and then punished for it, which cause his anxiety to skyrocket even further than it already was.

In the midst of almost having a full-blown panic attack, someone approached him from behind and gently tapped his shoulder.

"Hey, uh… you okay?..." Ren looked up from his hands, which he hadn't realised he had done, and slowly turned around.

"You seem… lost." They continued. Once he'd turned to face the stranger, Ren took in what they looked like: A boy with blonde, scruffy hair, blue eyes and their shirt tucked into their belt and pants.

"Uhm… Hello?" They asked, wondering if Ren understood him, having not replied or shown any sign that he had.

"O-Oh, yes—I am looking for my classroom, but I do not know where to go." Ren said as he held up his schedule in front of them and pointed at the class in question. The stranger glanced down at the small slip to see where Ren was pointing to.

"Oh, that's just down the hall." He said, pointing toward one of the doors.

"Th-Thank you!" Ren smiled with relief and politely bowed before he quickly rushed to his class.

As he approached the door he slowed his run into a brisk walk and stopped just in front of the door. There was a window that let him see into the room. Inside was roughly thirty students, all seated in wooden chairs with a thick, open textbook on top of their desks. There were still a few empty seats left in the room, each scattered around in different places, ranging from a couple in the very first row—closest to the front—to the farthest corner in the back.

The teacher, whose thick, white moustache jiggled a little with each word he spoke, had a deep, grand baritonal voice which travelled through the door, though slightly muffled, and carried into the hallway. He wore a dark burgundy suit aligned with gold trimmings and buttons. He was standing in front of a large, olive green blackboard which he was writing notes upon in white chalk, with an open book in his other hand.

Ren took a deep breath and exhaled twice before he reached for the handle and pushed the door open. It made a loud creaking that definitely distracted the class and the teacher from what they were doing.

"Can I help you?" Asked the rather rotund man, furrowing his brow at the sudden intrusion.

"I, uh…" Ren nervously pulls the note he received from Miss Goodwitch out of his pocket, "I was told to give you this…"

The teacher furrowed his brow further, before yanking the note from between his fingers. Their eyes dashed side to side as he read the neat and cursive handwriting. Ren never actually read the note, not that he could probably read such handwriting in the first place, so he didn't know what it said.

"I see…" The man spoke, his voice in a low tone. Ren was intimidated. The teacher reached out his hand toward Ren, who flinched at the sudden action, before it moved past him and pointed him toward the empty seat at the very back of the room.

"Take your seat, and welcome to my classroom. I am Professor Port."

While these events had unfolded, the rest of the class looked on in bemused curiosity. All eyes were on the new kid. Some of which belonged to people who were not too keen about someone like him joining the class. He received glares and stares from the class. A stray foot appeared from under a desk and into Ren's path, tripping him before he could get to a seat, causing him to almost topple over. A few people snickered. Ren's face hardened before he took a deep breath and continued toward his assigned chair. He dropped his bag down and leaned it against the leg of his desk as as pulled out his chair. Professor Port had since resumed his reading aloud but the students still watched Ren with intense gazes; a tense aura around him.

A few people's attention turned back to the front of the class when he sat down, but he was still being watched as if he was the newest animal in a zoo.

A hand raised, "Excuse me, sir?"

Port looked up from his reading, "Yes, whist is it?"

"Is there a particular reason we should be forced to work with a communist chink?" They spoke in some self assured, smug intonation.

"Yeah! Didn't we drop two bombs on them? Who's to say they won't try and get revenge?!" Came another student's voice across the room.

"No, that's Japa-" Port tried to correct, before being cut off by another student.

"I'd like to see them try! I'll beat their head into the ground before they come near me!" This student smirked and crossed their arms, leaning back in their chair as if they were the top dog around her. Ren covered himself on his desk with his hands over his head, just trying to drown out all the noise.

"Enough!" Professor Port shouted, loud enough that every other class had certainly heard it and it caused Ren to almost jump from his chair.

"Your personal views on the matter are your own, but when you come into my classroom it is to learn." His gaze was hard.

"So while you are all in my classroom, you will pay attention and learn. That is what I am paid for, so I will make sure I do a darn good job of it. You can take this business outside the classroom—after class is over—and if another person causes a disturbance or interruption they will be severely punished." He spoke sternly, looking across the entire classroom of students. The class had quietened down and the lesson resumed to as it had started. Ren looked back up from his desk once the commotion started to die down and tried his best to follow along, having trouble with some of the longer words, and words with odd spellings.

When the bell sounded and the class was over everyone else stood, collected their belongings, and made their way to the next, and final, class for the day. Ren was a bit slow to keep up and so he ended up being one of the last to leave.

Professor Port stopped him, his hand on Ren's shoulder, before he could leave the room.

"I don't want to see an incident like what happened today again, understand?" He said, glaring down at Ren, who didn't understand; what did he do wrong? He didn't start it, he didn't even join it.

"Y-Yes, Sir," He replied, however, not wanting to cause any more trouble. He held his bag tight as it hung over his shoulder.

"Excellent, now be in your way, before you are late to your next class." Port said, suddenly in a higher mood, and removed his hand from Ren's shoulder. Ren asked where exactly that was, showing him his schedule, before he left and quickly made his way toward his next class, hoping it wouldn't be a similar experience as the one he just had, which didn't exactly leave a great first impression and left him mentally exhausted already.

His next class was Mathematics; something he didn't fully understand the basics of, let alone the algebraic terms and equations they were being taught in this specific lesson. At least this class went on without too many distractions; a couple other students had launched spitballs at Ren, which he just tried to ignore as they hit him, his only reaction to them being a flinch and swiping them off if they hit his neck.

Otherwise, the class went by relatively quickly for Ren. The bell sounded to end the class and almost everyone quickly rose from their seats; the sound of chairs scraping against the floor and feet clattering to leave was what filled the room. Ren took his time to get up and collect his things and waited for the crowd to dissipate before even attempting to leave the room. He leaned against his desk, which would be his permanent seating arrangement from now on according to the seating arrangement the teacher had set up.

Once the crowd had thinned out a bit, Ren made his move to leave. He had one more class according to his schedule which he had memorised rather well by now from constantly checking it every five minutes. He shook his clothes of any loose spitballs, which had dried by now and fell to the floor.

"Clean those up." his teacher, known as Professor Peach by all of her students, said firmly.

Ren inwardly sighed and nodded before kneeling down to the floor to pick up the small balls of dried paper. He collected them all in his hand and walked over to the trash to throw them out. As he dropped them over it, a foot pushed the bin aside which let the paper fall back onto the floor. The foot belonged to another student, who was a few inches taller than him and smirking.

"Mr. Ren. Do you want a detention after class?" Professor Peach glared at him, arms crossed over her chest.

"N-No, it was-" he stuttered as he kneeled back down to pick them up again.

"I hope you don't intend to blame Mr. Black for you dropping rubbish all over the clean floor?" She was tapping her foot on the floor impatiently.

"N-No…" Ren managed to pick it all up again, it didn't take as long due to most of it being bunched together, and dropped it all into the trash successfully this time. He avoided eye contact with her, looking down to the floor as he stood up.

"Good. Now leave, you have another class, do you not?"

"Y-Yes, I do." he nodded, "D-Do you know where this room is?" He pointed to it on his schedule, which she gave him directions to and he left swiftly. He had to cross the grounds of the school campus to get to his next, and final, class.

Along the way, he was tripped over by a stray foot and hit the ground hard, scraping his arm on the concrete. Luckily that was all it was though. He groaned as he pushed himself up off the ground, but his face was met with someone's boot. He rolled a couple feet before he stopped and tried to push himself up again-he didn't get angry or try to retaliate as he knew that would only make things worse. His arms shook as he pushed himself up and a few drops of blood on the ground where his face was was slowly pooling as it dripped from his nose. He slowly stood back on his feet, his vision blurred and and feeling dizzy, but he managed to stand.

"Resilient one, aren't you?" It was Mercury Black, the same kid that had kicked the bin aside in the classroom earlier. Ren just looked at him wordlessly, holding his nose to try and stop the bleeding, then walked past him to get to his class while cupping his nose, which may have been broken.

"Hey, I'm talkin' to you!" Mercury shouted, reaching out and grabbing him by the shoulder to pull him back.

"Don't ignore me, you filthy asian peasant." He growled lowly, turning Ren to face him.

"What do you think you're doing here? Why don't you go back to the rice fields!?" His grip on Ren's shoulder tightened, which caused the long-haired boy to wince and grunt as Mercury's thumb pressed hard into a pressure point in his shoulder. Ren fell to his knees, already weakened by the kick to the head, and Mercury smirked.

"That's it, on your knees is where you belong in front of me." He pulled his leg back, holding Ren's head steady so he didn't collapse on him, and charged up a kick. He released his hand from his forehead—blood trickled down Ren's face; from his nose, over his lips to his chin where it dropped down onto his clothes and the ground in thick, crimson drops. Mercury hit the weakened boy directly with a roundhouse kick to the head and a straight kick to the chest, sending him flying back a few feet with a small trail of blood following behind. Mercury started to walk over to him when he stopped at the sound of the bell signalling that classes start.

"Hmph. You're lucky." He made an about-face and left the bloody and bruised Ren on the ground, covered in dirt. He felt weak all over, tired and exhausted. He was winded and could barely breath and his head was spinning. Once Mercury's footsteps were out of earshot, the tears rolled down his cheeks and he weakly sobbed, salty tears mixing with the blood from his nose. Upon closer inspection it was crooked, and sensitive to touch.

Ren tried to calm himself and steady his breathing, with his nose blocked and broken it made it a bit more difficult. His breathing slowly became deeper and deeper as he concentrated only on that, ignoring the pain he felt in his chest and the ringing in his ears.

He took a deep breath through his mouth, tightly shut his eyes and cracked his nose back into place, crying aloud in pain as blood and mucus mixed together and poured from his nostrils. He sat up slowly, blowing the excess from his nose with clenched teeth while sitting forward and holding his tender nose while tears poured down his cheeks.

He took a moment before trying to stand, his legs were wobbly but he could manage to keep himself standing and continued on toward his next class. He stumbled often and used the walls and lockers that he passed by for support. He made sure not to use his bloody hand when touching things, instead just holding his nose to stop the bleeding as soon as possible. As he arrived to the class, almost halfway through the lesson at this point, he wiped the tears from his eyes and opened the door, stumbling in looking like he had gone through hell.

"Oh, so glad you could joi-" the teacher, a middle-aged man with a dark stubble, black, slicked back hair and a white, tilted cross around his neck on a chain, temporarily froze at the sight of him. The entire class looked on in shock.

"U-Uh..." The teacher looked toward the class, eyeing a blonde girl sitting near the back, "Yang, you take him to the nurse's office. Everyone else, back to work."

The girl with long, wavy blonde hair took a moment to respond, replying with a nod and standing up quickly from her chair to walk over to Ren and lead him carefully outside the room and take him to the nurse's office as instructed. She pulled his arm over her shoulder and helped to support him with her arm around his waist. She slowly lead him away from the class and down the hall. The class resumed when the teacher brought the attention back to him.

"Jeez, what the heck did you do?..." Yang murmured as she looked over his injuries. She noticed a small trail of blood drops on the ground that must have been from him when he was walking to class. She noticed he was dragging his feet behind him and she was doing most of the work.

"Hey, don't you fall asleep on me!" She gently shook him, trying to make sure he didn't collapse or fall unconscious. She didn't know how bad it really was, he could have had a concussion for all she knew. He weakly stepped one foot in front of the other as they eventually reached Goodwitch's office, who was also the school's head nurse. The older woman looked up as the two students walked through the entrance and she dropped her pen.

"What in blazes happened to him?" She gasped, quickly stood from her desk, placing her glasses down, and helped the young blonde in bringing him to the nurse's office and seating him on the bed.

"We don't know, he just showed up to class twenty minutes late like this." Yang explained, "I saw a trail of blood on the ground on the way here but it stopped somewhere outside."

"Hmm…" Glynda pulled out the first aid supplies and got to work. Yang stayed and watched, offering to help if necessary—it wasn't.

Ren's cuts and bruises were cleaned and his nose stopped bleeding at some point. He had bandages placed over him, both adhesive and wrapped ones, and his wounds were disinfected. He was told to lie down and not worry about class.

Although she didn't know much, Yang was asked to stay behind because she was the one that brought him in. So she sat on a chair beside the bed and watched over him.

"You're extremely lucky, you know…" Yang said, her voice soft and quiet, "Your injuries could have been much worse…"

Ren didn't respond. He was allowed to rest, so he closed his eyes and drifted off. He was still in pain, and his breathing was unsteady, but he would live. As far as they could tell, nothing was broken so they didn't call an ambulance.

As Ren fell asleep, Glynda returned to check on the boy. She sighed and squeezed her closed eyelids between her index finger and thumb.

"We can't get in contact with the boy's mother, do you think you could help him on his way home?" Glynda asked the blonde student.

"Wait, you want me to go?" Yang asked, surprised.

"Will that be a problem?" Glynda looked at her.

"N-No, But-"

"Good, I'll let your sister and father know that you'll be a bit late home today."

"-I have to work after school..."

"Then I will inform your manager, where do you work?"

"... Sunflower Diner…" she answered.

"Consider it done. Let him rest for a little longer then take him home, school is almost over."

"But I don't know where he-" before Yang could finish her sentence Glynda handed her a slip of paper from between her fingers. It had an address on it.

Yang sighed, "Okay."

"Good, I'll be in my office if anything happens before you leave."

Yang nodded and the woman left the room, leaving the two alone once again.

She looked at him and sighed, "I guess I'm taking you home."

* * *

So, its been a little while huh? Not too long for you I hope. I am finally done with school work, as far as I know, so I can finally get back to writing for this!

Things are finally becoming a bit more dialogue heavy as more people are introduced.

It physically pained me while writing Ren getting beaten by Mercury, but it's what introduced Yang to Ren in the end. The astute of you may have noticed that the summary of the fic now has Yang in it, well that was certainly on purpose and you'll all see how she plays her part in the story later on. Half of this chapter was written a couple weeks ago, and I finished it off in the past few days. I hope it holds up in any sort of quality you might expect from it.

Still no Nora, but don't worry I have a couple ideas floating around for her grand entrance into the story, just be patient :3

As always, thank you for reading and leave your comments below if you feel so inclined, I read them all!


	5. Kid must be a wimp

Glynda stood over the unconscious boy, his body covered in bandages and bruises all over. "The school will be locking up soon, I think it would be best you wake him and leave as soon as possible." She had a purse over her shoulder and what looked like a modicum of makeup applied to her face.

With a knowing smile striking her lips, Yang smirked. "Night on the town, huh, Miss?~" She teased. Glynda turned to face the other direction, hiding her faint, embarrassed blush. Bringing her purse further up on her shoulder, she turned her head to look back at Yang.

"My personal life is no concern of yours, Miss. Xiao Long-" She cleared her throat, "I shall see you tomorrow. Turn off the lights when you leave, security will lock up." Upon giving her instruction she left the both of them in the infirmary behind the main office of the school. Yang looked over at the clock on the wall, then outside through the window. It would be dark soon and she would miss her shift completely if they didn't leave in the next few minutes.

Ren strained to open his eyes-a look of pure exhaustion taking over on his face.

" _Xiao... Long..._?" his accent broke through his weak voice.

Yang jumped a little in her seat, "Huh?" She didn't realize he was awake until now.

"Yeah, that's my last name?" The young blonde leaned into her hands with her elbows in her lap, looking down a him ink the bed. She tilted her head curiously, "What is it?"

"I-It's nothing…" He grunted as he tried to sit himself up, pushing up with his arms behind him. He winced and inhaled sharply as a searing pain shot through his chest, his hand quickly clutching at the pain which caused his other hand to slip and make him fall back onto the bed.

"Hey, take it slow!" Yang quickly leaned forward with her arms out to catch him on reflex. It wasn't necessary as he only fell back on the bed, so she stopped herself half way through the motion and slowly sat back down on the chair.

"It's only been like an hour, don't expect to be moving around so much…" She chided, moving to her feet. She leaned over him and helped him sit up with her hand supporting him on his back and the other holding his hand as she pulled him up. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and held his arm over the pain in his stomach as she let go of him, wincing in pain.

Yang crossed her arms, "Think you'll be able to walk?" She looked doubtful. Ren looked up at her and nodded slowly. He slowly slid off the bed and pushed himself up with his hands. His hand went to his stomach again as he felt a pain in it and hunched over slightly.

"You _sure_ you'll be alright?" She bent over and looked up at his face. He turned his head away from her.

"My legs are not what hurt, I should be fine…" But his body betrayed his words as he suddenly felt light-headed and almost collapsed on the spot. If it weren't for Yang he would have, being caught in her arms.

"Okay…" Ren wasn't stubborn and knew when to admit defeat, "I guess I could use your help…" He sighed.

Yang smirked, admittedly liking it when she was right. She helped him back to his feet and brought his arm around her shoulders. She brushed her hair out of the way with her hand so his arm wouldn't pull on it and held onto his wrist, which hung from left shoulder to right, with her right hand and looked over at him. He would usually have about an inch over her, but he was a bit slouched as he used her for support, leaving her a couple centimeters taller over him.

"You okay like this?" She asked, adjusting his position over her shoulders a little bit.

"One second…" He looked over his shoulder and reached for his bag, slinging it over his free side.

"Okay," He nods, "ready."

The girl smiled and started walking, Ren's feet following the same pattern and synchronizing with hers. She reached for the light switch as they left the room, flicking it off behind them. Ren was focused on his breathing-in through the nose and out through the mouth. He was murmuring something to himself under his breath.

He walked with a slight limp out of the building with Yang supporting him. More of his weight was leaning on his right leg and his free arm was clutched over his abdomen, occasionally wincing as the pain shot through his body.

"You have a bus pass or something right…?" Yang questioned, looking over at the boy knowing there was no way they could possibly walk the entire way.

"A… bus pass?" he asked, answering her question with his own.

"I'll take that as a no…" the blonde sighed, "How did you get to school today, then?"

"Uhhh…" he didn't know what they were called, so he looked around for anything he could use to explain. Luckily a cable car happened to pass by at that moment, which he pointed at.

"That…"

"The Cable Car? Alright, do you still have your ticket?" She adjusted him slightly over her shoulder to regain her grip on him and to stop him from slipping.

"N-No…" he looked down again.

"Did they take it from you?" She asked, referring to the person who left the boy in his current state.

"No, I…" his voice slowly got quieter as he spoke, "sat on the back…"

Yang stared at him with a blank look for a moment before she realized what he meant and laughed.

"Wow, you've got guts, kid." she said, grinning at him, "Lucky you weren't seen by any cops; you probably wouldn't have made it to school today."

His cheeks were a tinge pink as his focus remained downcast toward the ground.

"I was late, and I don't have any money to buy a ticket, or a 'bus pass'..." he said, embarrassed.

"Oh." Yang's smile faded, "Well, I can give you a hand this time. You're in no shape to be walking very far, and I don't feel like watching you fall off the back of a car, so I'll pay for your ticket." She gave him a reassuring smile.

He looked up and returned with a light smile of his own and thanked her.

"But now you owe me and I expect you to pay me back later~" she spoke playfully, but he nodded sternly nonetheless and intended to honour that debt as soon as he could afford.

"Now, come on, before we miss it and have to wait for the next one. I don't want to waste any time." She said, almost dragging him over her shoulder as she waved down the cable car across the road-making sure to look out for any oncoming traffic beforehand-and helped Ren up step by step.

She sat him down first, then turned to the expectant conductor and handed over a few coins. He counted them then placed them into his pouch before rolling out two small pieces of paper and punching a small hole in each.

Yang then rejoined the bruised boy, taking a seat beside him and placing one of the tickets into his open hand. He nodded a soft thank you and slid it into his pocket, tapping it a few times to secure it in place. Ren sighed and let his body relax a bit against the seat.

Yang looked over his address once more to confirm it before she decided to try and make conversation.

"You don't exactly live close to the school, do you?..." she commented, looking up from the paper Glynda had given her and setting her eyes on Ren.

He shrugged, "It was the only place my mother could get me into… It was such short notice, and she met someone who helped me get in. If anything I am quite lucky to be where I am…"

Yang frowned and crossed her arms, "That doesn't mean you should be beaten half to death on your first day. I wouldn't call that luck; and if it is then Lady Luck is certainly being a major jerk to you."

A weak smile spread across his lips at her remark. "I…" he paused to try and think of the right word, "appreciate… you helping me, even though it was probably just because you were asked to."

"It's not a problem, I'll just have to ask my boss to forgive me for not being able to make it on time…" the blonde sighed.

"Sorry…" he muttered guiltily.

"No, please, don't be. This isn't your fault at all, it's the ass who did this to you. In fact, you wouldn't happen to know who it was, would you?"

He shook his head. He tried to think back but when he tried to think too hard his head would hurt more.

"Black…" was all he could say right now, something in his memory placing that word in the forefront of his mind.

"Black? You mean, like, skin colour? Clothing?" Yang inquired, but Ren's head was throbbing. She wouldn't be getting much else from him right now.

Ren closed his eyes and slowly dozed off in his seat.

Yang looked out the window, watching as the sun was slowly setting on the horizon. "Black, huh?..." she muttered quietly, talking to herself and getting lost in thought.

She quickly looked up, having lost track of time, and examined the outside surroundings, checking passing street signs and notable landmarks. She quickly shot up to pull on the cord to signal to the driver to stop. If she had been distracted for much longer they probably would have missed the right stop. Ren jolted awake as his shoulder was gently shook, eyes widening before relaxing in their regular position when he remembered where he was and looked up toward his companion.

"This is where we get off." She smiles softly and reaches down to help him up. She slowly helps him off and step into the street and cross the road into the sidewalk.

"You don't need to take me the rest of the way, I can... make it from here…" Ren coughed, wincing and holding his abdomen as a sharp pain shot through it at the tensing of it.

Yang frowned and flicked his nose, it wasn't a hard flick and could easily be construed as just playful.

"I've already come all this way, I might as well take you the rest. Besides, I was told to take you home, not a couple blocks from it. I have to miss work for this after all."

"Sorry... about that…" His head turned toward the ground, his arm holding his shoulder. The blonde nudged his arm, sighing.

"Hey, I said it was okay. It's not your fault." She said softly. He just nodded softly in response. Neither of them were entirely familiar with the area, so it took them a bit of time to figure out exactly where they were trying go, but Ren recognized the building he and his mother were residing in as they turned a corner. He pointed and Yang took him into the building and up the elevator.

Yang leaned against the wall with her arms crossed as they traveled up a floor or two, then as the door dinged open she helped Ren through and to his doorstep. She knocked on the door and waited for an answer. She wasn't going to leave until she knew he was safe inside first.

She waited for a few minutes while Ren sat down on the ground. Still no answer. She knocked again and still nothing. She sighed, frustrated.

She looked down at Ren on the floor, "Do you have a key or something?" He shook his head, Yang groaned.

"Alright, up you get, you can come with me to work because I don't want to leave you alone in this condition-God knows what will happen if I do and I don't want that sticking on my conscience…" she murmured. She picked him back up and they were back on the street in no time.

Luckily for her, she didn't work too far from here so it was a quick ride, using the same tickets from before for the both of them. Reaching downtown, they approached upon a neon-lit diner. Yang tied her hair back into a bushy ponytail and they entered. She left Ren in a seat located in the corner of the diner where she would be able to keep an eye on him and spoke to her boss, explaining the situation to him. He allowed him to stay, _if_ he ordered something. Yang rolled her eyes, knowing he wasn't able to afford anything on the menu so she ordered for him.

She changed into her uniform first however, heading out the back and returning in a yellow and light brown mini dress and equally matching apron. She placed some of her own money into the register and served Ren a caramel milkshake with a bendy straw neatly placed inside the glass.

She leaned over the table and looked at him, placing her hand on his shoulder gingerly so it wouldn't cause any pain, "Here you go, it's the only way I was allowed to let you stay. Go on, drink it, and don't worry about having to pay me back for this, I dragged _you_ here after all." She sighed. She returned to work, occasionally checking in on him. Her co-workers would come over in her place during particularly busy periods, ever her boss would check to make sure he was okay. One of the waitresses in particular took a keener interest in him than the rest, however.

A bubbly, ginger waitress leaned over his table, overlooking the boy who had decided to take a nap in his seat, quietly snoring. He looked peaceful, as if all his pain had subsided and it _didn't_ hurt to breathe. She giggled and was about to try and wake him before the boss called her to get back to work and she rolled back onto the floor and took people's orders and delivered others to their tables.

When Yang went on break it was already late at night, almost 10PM, and she sat down beside Ren to eat from a small basket of fries. She nudged him gently awake and offered him some, which he accepted gratefully. She smiled and they sat together in comfortable silence for the duration of her break.

She turned her head toward him, munching on some fries. "I'm almost done with work, are you okay over here by yourself?" She spoke with her mouth still full. After swallowing the rest of her fries she realized he had fallen back to sleep against her shoulder and smiled, sighing. She placed a leather jacket over him and went back to work, laying him the other way.

Ren opened his eyes and everything he saw was in black and white; everything toned in hues of grey as his world was completely devoid of colour. He didn't feel any pain on his body, in fact he didn't feel anything at all. He tried to touch his arm, his stomach-nothing. He felt absolutely nothing except a tightness growing in his chest as he found it hard to breathe. He was still in the diner. At least, he thought he was. Everything looked… _distorted_ somehow upon closer inspection.

Suddenly, a near-blinding flash of colour filled his vision as a figure entered his view. He couldn't make out who it was though. At first he thought it was his mother, but the silhouette wasn't right. He could tell they were feminine, but that was all. They came closer and a flash of orange, like fire, filled his vision but they only grew more hazy as they got closer to him and his eyes slowly closed on him.

Ren jolted awake, eyes wide as he quickly looked up. Yang and one of her co-workers jumped back, the latter letting out a small yelp. Ren calmed down upon realizing where he was and relaxed in his seat.

Yang composed herself, "It's time to take you home, so come on- get up." She took her jacket and helped him out of his seat. After a little rest he was in a much better condition to move on his own, but he still hurt all over. He yawned and slid out of the small booth. Yang stood to the side until he could stand and nodded, motioning to the door. She took his hand hand lead him outside. She was still in her work uniform, but had slipped her leather jacket on over the top. Yang's orange haired co-worker followed them out, her shift ending at the same time, she was wearing a pair of pink roller-skates. Something about them seemed familiar, but he couldn't place it.

Yang covered her mouth and yawned, then waved her off as they went separate ways, "See you tomorrow, Nora!…" she called out to the redhead before she lead Ren along. Yang tugged a bit on his arm, "We should hurry, transport won't be running much longer." But before they could get much farther from the diner Yang's name was called out-It was her boss. She groaned, "Ugh, what now…" and turned around, still hand-in-hand with Ren.

The man, who was a little on the heavier side and stood taller than the both of them in his kitchen garb, approached them. "You don't plan on dragging this kid around all night in this condition, do you?"

Yang rubbed her arm, "Well… It's not like I have any other means of transport…" She seemed a little uncomfortable, which Ren picked up on as she squeezed his hand a little tighter.

"I'll drive you both home, I'd rather not knowingly let two kids-especially one that is injured-wander the streets at night."

Yang thought it over for a second, then sighed, "Fine." and lead Ren back with herself into the closing diner.

* * *

Yang was seated in the front passenger seat, wiggling around a bit to get comfortable, with Ren in the seat directly behind her. He had never been inside a car, only ever seen them from the outside-and almost run over by them a couple times. He felt around, his hands touching the 'luxury' leather seating as he looked out the window. He rolled down the window and the wind blew his hair back and caused him to squint. He pulled back and sat in his seat as he felt the cool night breeze brush past his face. Yang looked back and giggled a little at his antics before she looked straight forward. She had given her boss the address, so she just sat back and watched as the lights passed them by. They sat in silence for a few minutes before the man got a little fidgety and spoke up.

"So, what's the story with him? He your boyfriend or somethin'?" He asked, looking over toward Yang for a second to get her attention before looking back to the road, his hands in a relaxed position on the steering wheel.

"Not... exactly..." She looked into the backseat again, then forward as Ren looked up at her, she didn't want to say to much. "He's a new kid in my class, he got beat up on the first day and the responsibility to look after him kinda just fell into my lap. I tried to take him home earlier, but no-one was there which is why I had to drag him all the way to work… Uh, sorry… about that…" she looked out the window.

"Ha! First day and he already got beat up?" He glanced back at Ren through the rear-view mirror, "Kid must be a wimp!" He laughed, "I feel sorry for ya, having to lug him around all over the place."

Ren just awkwardly rubbed his arm, staying silent and looking down. Yang frowned but didn't speak up to her boss, crossing her arms and looking out the window again as he kept driving and trying to make more conversation.

* * *

"We're here." Came the taut voice of their driver as he pulled up to the curb. Yang almost immediately stepped out of the car to help Ren, closing her door and stepping sideways to open Ren's. She leaned down and took his hand as he stepped out slowly.

"Come on, get up…" Yang muttered to him, pulling him out of the car. He leaned against the car as Yang turned to their driver. "I'll be fine from here, I can get home on my own from here." She told him.

He poked his body through the window, looking over the roof of the car at her. "You sure? It's no trouble at all. I don't need to be anywhere, and it's pretty late for someone like yourself." He was quite insistent on it, but Yang just refused politely. After about a minute of trying to convince her, with Yang trying her best to stay polite to his advances, he gave up with a shrug, "Your loss, Missy." He then sat back down in his car and took off, almost taking Ren with him if Yang hadn't pulled him off from the car in the last second.

" _Ass_." Yang scowled at his car as it drove off in the distance, then turned back to Ren who looked both timid and exhausted.

She placed her hand on his shoulder, "Hey, what's wrong?, and leaned down to look into his downcast eyes.

He turns his head away from her, "It's… nothing-" he muttered. "I'm worried about how my mother will… react." He looks up at the building, the light was on in the window where his apartment was supposed to be.

Yang sighed, "I'm sure she's really worried about you, so come on… Let's head up." She holds his hand as they walk up and through the door, pulling on the handle and walking over to the elevator, mirroring exactly what they did earlier that day.

Ren leaned against the back of the elevator, still looking down as Yang pressed the button to take them to the correct floor. She looked at him, "Something else is bothering you, I can tell." Yang said, crossing her arms. She had one of her feet up against the wall of the elevator behind her.

Ren was quiet as he looked up at her, then sighed as her gaze pierced through him. "I'm not… a wimp…" he said, softly. Her gaze softened and she stepped forward and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't let it get to you…" The elevator doors opened then, a floor below the one they were aiming for as two older men stepped in. They were the same ones that Ren had run into in the morning. Yang removed her hand from his shoulder and stepped back, beside Ren against the elevator wall.

"Going down." One of them said, pressing the button for the ground floor without even waiting for one of them to say something. The elevator went down for them first.

"Hey, it's that kid." One of the men said, specifically looking at Ren, then his partner as he did so.

"Oh yeah, the one who's mother wouldn't stop crying on about him." They laughed, "I guess she'll be in for a shock when he walks through the door." Ren's heart started to beat out of his chest. Yang just scowled at them, staring daggers into their backs. They laughed as they left the elevator and Yang pressed the button again for their floor. Pressing it a few times to make sure it worked this time, cursing under her breath.

As they reached the correct floor, Ren left first and was followed by Yang. She was going to follow through to the end after all. Ren raised his arm to knock on the door, hesitating as he pulled his arm to his chest.

"You'll have to go in at some point." Yang said, to which Ren nodded and sighed, knocking on the door which opened before his hand could hit the wood a second time. The door burst open and his mother was on the other side, her eyes red and tears gushing down her cheeks. Without even realizing his bandages and injuries she wrapped him in a tight hug.

" _Māmā_ , you're- hurting me…" Ren groaned, but she just kept hugging him, sobbing.

Yang thought to intervene else his injuries somehow worsen from his mother's intense hug. "E-Excuse me…" Yang stammered, trying to get her attention, though to no avail as Ren was practically smothered in his mother's arms.

"Hey, be careful, he's injured…" She had her arms out as if she would pull him away from her.

Realization of what Yang had just said struck her as she pulled away from her son, gasping as she finally realized all the injuries he had sustained. She started speaking too fast for anyone to understand as she lead the boy inside. Yang just stood there for a second, wondering if she should follow-she had gotten him safely home after all, she didn't need to stay any longer-before she was pulled in by An as she closed the door.

In the light it was a much clearer to see that An had been crying a lot; her dress was scrunched up, her knuckles pale white and her eyes were bloodshot. "W-What happen?" An asked, her voice shaky. Yang tried to explain, but she couldn't understand her very well so it was left to Ren. He slowly explained what had happened earlier that day and An became visibly angry when he mentioned how he had gotten his injuries. She went on a swearing tirade in Chinese. Both Ren and Yang stared at her, wide-eyed, before Ren tried to calm her down.

Yang looked out the window, it was late-too late to walk home from here-and she doubted Ren's mother would be able to take her either-not that should ask something of her after she _just_ brought her son home covered in bandages.

"Do you… have a phone I could use? I need to call my dad…" Yang rubbed her arm shyly as An doted on her son. Ren managed to escape his mother's grasp again, nodding and pointing toward a phone on a small table in the living room.

Yang thanked him and walked over to it, asking the operator to connect her to her home. It dialed for a second before someone picked up the receiver.

"Yang?!" Came a somewhat high pitched voice.

"Yeah, it's me, Ruby…" She sat down beside the phone, fixing her skirt.

"Where are you?! Dad was so worried when you didn't come home on time!" Ruby's voice was filled with worry and concern. She was usually home a couple hours earlier than this.

"I'm fine, I just… had to do some stuff. You remember that boy I was with in the infirmary?"

"Yeah?..."

"Well, simply put, I had to take him with me to work and I only just got him home…"

"Okay…"

"Do you think Dad could pick me up? It's late and there isn't a way for me to get home now…"

"I think he's asleep now, he was waiting for you to get home when you didn't show up after a while. I'll go check." Ruby placed the receiver down and her footsteps were briefly heard as she ran off. Yang sat there for a moment in silence, watching as An cleaned and fixed Ren's bandages.

Ruby returned, picking up the phone, "He's asleep, and I can't get him to wake up. I'd ask Qrow, but he's not here right now…"

"No, it's okay, I'll work something out… I'll just see you later."

"O-Okay… Be safe!"

Yang hung up the phone and sighed. "I guess I could ask to stay here for the night…" she murmured to herself, standing up. She walked into the kitchen, where An and Ren were as she scrubbed his chest and arms with a damp sponge. He winced and grit his teeth as she applied pressure to his bruises and cuts.

"Hey, uh…" Yang looked away, blushing a little in embarrassment at the now-shirtless boy in front of her, "Would it be okay if I… stayed here for the night? It's really late and I can't get home…" Ren looked up at her and she kept looking away, then turned his head toward his mother. He repeated her question to her in Chinese.

An looked up at the blonde girl, then back at Ren. She nodded and said something to Ren. He smiles softly and nods, before turning back to look up at Yang.

"She says it's okay, and she is thankful for you helping me."

An walked around Ren and hugged Yang tightly, softly sobbing. She was speaking Chinese in her ear. Yang gasps softly and the sudden hug and rubs her back, hugging her with one arm. "Uh, i-it was nothing…" She stuttered. Ren slipped on a shirt as An went to prepare a place for Yang to sleep.

After a few minutes An returned, "We don't have anything to sleep on, so you take bed with Ren."

Both teens turned their heads to her in an instant, Yang blushed brightly and Ren let out a painful sound from turning his head too quickly, clutching his neck.

"I-I can take the floor, it's fine." Yang said quickly, raising her arms up.

"No, you take bed, I am used to floor." An insisted. Ren was about to counter as well, but An raised her finger to silence him.

"It is okay." An was standing her ground on this. Ren sighed and looked at Yang, who turned away from him as she blushed harder.

"I will give you my clothe for sleep." An told Yang, in her usual broken English. Ren went to change while An collected some clothes for Yang, returning with a long nightgown. It might not be in her exact size, considering both women had very distinct differences in body size and shape. Yang quietly thanked her, taking it and changing in the bathroom. She dropped her uniform on the floor and changed. It was a little tight on her generous figure, but it fit fine otherwise. She walked out, still a bit of a blushing mess as her chest and hips were more than obvious in the gown.

An just smiled at her and pushed her toward the bedroom. "Look good, sleep well." Yang was stuttering trying to think of a reply before she was lead into the bedroom where Ren had just finished changing. He turned around and blushed at the sight of her. He turned his head away from her and sat down on the bed. Yang sat down awkwardly beside him and An left the two of them alone, flicking off the light-a lamp beside the bed became the only source of light.

Ren couldn't bring himself to look at her, and the same for her to Ren.

"I… guess we should get under the covers." Yang said, quietly.

Y-Yeah…" Ren muttered, turning around to climb on the bed and take the side closer to the wall. He faced away from Yang, pulling up the blanket as Yang joined beside him, the two of them back to back.

"... Good night…"

"... Goodnight…'

They both said it at the same time, causing them both to go silent and embarrassed. Yang turned off the light beside the bed and moonlight shined through a thin crack between the curtain and window as they both closed their eyes.

* * *

SO. Hey, it's been a while. A little over a year to be precise, I think. Uhhh sorry about that. Fun fact, I had the entire basis of the chapter planned since I posted the last one all those years ago. Back then I had just finished and graduated my first year of tafe, now I'm about to be going to uni (hopefully, just waiting on some stuff). This had been about a third written back then too, then I _**finally**_ found the drive to open it back up and finish what I started, which is kind of a new thing for me if I'm honest. I spent about three days going from the original 1800 or so words that I had written to this massive (by my own standards, anyway) 5300+ words. I didn't really go back and refresh myself on previous chapters so there's a _slight_ possibility of plot holes but I think I managed pretty well. I don't plan on making y'all wait another two years for the next chapter, but we'll see how things go .


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